Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945–1960: The Soul of Containment

by William Inboden

• ISBN13: 9780521156301
• ISBN10: 0521156300
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-31
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Cold War was in many ways a religious war. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and other American leaders believed that human rights and freedom were endowed by God, that God had called the United States to defend liberty, and that Soviet communism was evil because of its atheism and enmity to religion. Along with security and economic concerns, these religious convictions helped determine both how the United States defined the enemy and how it fought the conflict. Meanwhile, American Protestant churches failed to seize the moment. Internal differences over theology and politics, and resistance to cooperation with Catholics and Jews, hindered Protestant leaders domestically and internationally. Frustrated by these internecine disputes, Truman and Eisenhower attempted to construct a new civil religion to mobilize domestic support for Cold War measures, determine the strategic boundaries of containment, unite all religious faiths against communism, and to undermine the authority of communist governments abroad.

Author Biography

William Inboden is currently the Senior Vice President of the Legatum Institute. He previously served as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House. He has also worked at the State Department as a member of the Policy Planning staff and in the Office of International Religious Freedom, and at the American Enterprise Institute as a Civitas Fellow.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Hopes Deferred: Protestants and Foreign Policy, 1945-1952	p. 29
Unit Dissolved: Protestants and Foreign, Policy, 1953-1960	p. 63
The "Real" Truman Doctrine: Harry Truman's Theology of Containment	p. 105
To Save China: Protestant Missionaries and Sino-American Relations	p. 157
Guided by God: The Unusual Decision-Making of Senator H. Alexander Smith	p. 190
Chosen by God: John Foster Dulles and America	p. 226
Prophet, Priest, and President: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the New American Faith	p. 257
Afterword	p. 311
Bibliography	p. 323
Index	p. 331
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